Basic Productivity Presentation Tool

Lesson Idea

Lesson Idea Name: In Defense of Seven

Grade Level/Content Area: 3rd Grade Language Arts
Content Standard Addressed:
ELAGSE3W3 Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using
effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences.

ISTE Technology Standard Addressed:
Creative Communicator – 1.6 Students
communicate clearly and express themselves
creatively for a variety of purposes using the
platforms, tools, styles, formats and digital
media appropriate to their goals.
What would you like students to know and
be able to do by the end of this lesson:
I would like students to know how to create a
short narrative story book in PowerPoint.

What is the student learning goal for this lesson idea?

Students will be able to write a short narrative, using real or imagined events, and create an
eBook of it in PowerPoint.

Selected Instructional Software Tool: PowerPoint

URL(s) to support the lesson (if applicable):

Bloom’s Digital Taxonomy Level(s):

☐ Remembering ☐ Understanding ☐ Applying ☐ Analyzing ☐ Evaluating ☐ Creating

How will this lesson be implemented? Check all that apply.

☐ Teacher-directed: There is no student voice and choice in the activities. Students are guided by the
teacher's direction and expectations.

☐ Student-Led: Students are given voice and choice in the activities. They may select the topic for
presentation and/or determine the tool they will use to meet the learning goal. Products of
learning will be uniquely designed. Teacher simply facilitates the learning in a lesson like this.

☐ Project-based and/or Publishable: Students are completing projects to demonstrate their learning
and the projects can be shared outside of the classroom. This objective could be reached by
displaying the project on the school’s morning newscast, posting the project to the classroom
blog, presenting it to another class, or publishing it via an outside source.
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Lesson Idea

Lesson idea implementation:

For this lesson, students will be writing a short narrative story that they will then adapt into
an eBook using PowerPoint. Hopefully, students will have some minor experience with
PowerPoint already, but we will go over some key features for the lesson. Students will be
shown how to make slides, add images, add text, and add transitions. I will show students the
eBook I created as an example of what theirs should look like (it doesn’t have to be exactly
the same quality). Students will be provided a list of requirements they must meet as they
write their stories and make their eBooks such as making a story map, using images, having a
title and an end slide, etc. Aside from the requirements, students have full creative freedom
so long as it is school appropriate. I will be available to provide feedback as students are
working, as well as offer assistance if no one else is able to help. This project may last
multiple days and, if this is the case, each day students will have a different part of the
project they are aiming to have completed by the end of the lesson. The final lesson
conclusion will be the students presenting their eBooks to the class.

Managing engagement: Describe a way to use this technology in a way that gets students
actively involved in authentic tasks and contexts?
With younger students, I often see that creative-based projects are typically very engaging.
Students love to draw and craft, so it wouldn’t be a stretch to say that they would keep
themselves motivated and engaged with this activity. I will encourage students to explore the
other tools available within PowerPoint beyond what I showed them. This seems like this
would be a multi-day project, so the students would have set milestones for each day of what
they should have done with their projects. Lastly, students will be told to use the “Ask 3 then
me” strategy where they ask three of their classmates for help before asking the teacher
(me). Other strategies may be used but these are the few I know will be utilized.

Universal Design for Learning (UDL):

Microsoft software does very well at being accessible as possible for all users. For example,
while creating my eBook, I was able to use the recording feature to create audio for my
presentation. This means that when I use this presentation, the slide audio plays, making it
easier for students to follow along. Teachers are always looking for creative lessons to
implement and PowerPoint is a great tool to use for this. The software is fairly user friendly
so students can learn and adapt to the program with relative ease. Being a presentation
software, PowerPoint naturally supports the Expression component of UDL by offering a large
variety of tools one can use to make their presentation unique, creative, and personalized.

Reflecting on enhanced learning:

I think that going through the full process of developing, writing, creating, and producing a
storybook is already a meaningful and memorable activity. Doing this but in a digital format
will add onto the student’s language arts skills but add onto their computer technology skills
which they can apply later on in their education. The part I look forward to the most is when
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Lesson Idea

students finally got to present their eBooks to the class. There’s nothing quite like showing
off the project you worked really hard on and are really proud of. The sense of pride and
accomplishment is amazing and I’m just really excited to see what my students create.